That said, we don’t expect allies to express their own insecurities (at such great length) by criticizing the fundamental working model of our culture. We respect and adore our allies, and we personally have never gone on any philosophical offensive about Caldari culture and values.

I don’t quite feel criticism between nominal allies and crass reminders that the one’s ultimate aim is to entirely assimilate the other are on quite the same level, and I don’t think I’m the only ethnic Caldari to notice how readily the latter is employed to answer to the former.

Your frustration with Veikitamo is entirely understandable – sorry, Veiki, you know I love you – but, do consider that she’s not the only one listening.

In this case it was stated more in the vein of “You’re going to have a nasty accident; You’re going home in a bloody ambulance; Come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough.” than in the vein of “We will resist to the utmost of our strength and ability.”

The Golden Fleet would become a fiery trail of gilded wreckage if it attacked the State. That’s not misplaced national pride, that’s the professional military assessment of the majority.

I also wonder what the Republic Fleet would do if the Empire attacked the State…

All this talk of the Empire attacking the State… let us not dwell on such unpleasant hypotheticals. Our peoples have so much in common and both have benefited greatly from our alliance, have we not? I am honored and blessed to have retainers of Caldari decent such as Sister Alizabeth and Brother Raphael Ordo, and I very much enjoy the company of Strike Commander Kim and even Mr Tuulinen(though we have our disagreements).

On the other hand, I believe all here can agree to despise The Butcher for he is an abomination of what it is to be Amarr.

The Alliance has been a grand advertisement for the power of enlightened self-interest. The State has certainly profited from the Status Quo and I have always done my best to ensure that Her Imperial Majesty never regretted having Caldari allies.

Your frustration with Veikitamo is entirely understandable – sorry, Veiki, you know I love you – but, do consider that she’s not the only one listening.

Yes, I can be abrasive when I need to be. This is not a platform for dialogue or in-depth discussion. It is a place for spectacle and the smack talk of opinions expressed not on basis of fact, but feeling. As such, I’ll strut down from the stage to the ring to the sound of fireworks and the theme song of my persona, ready to confirm some bias.

This is Entertainment, you could even say Echelon Entertainment. Where I’m invited to be a guest on a panel on the topic of defense policy position papers being released. A topic the more emotionally invested Amarr here who thought it’s real wrestling have provided me with some spicy quotes for.

What I mean is, look, the Amarr are probably the most predictable people ever. All you have to do is prod and poke and they’ll instantly go, “Oh, yeah, well I’m going to reclaim and enslave your entire family for that insult!”

Hey everyone, joke’s on us. She was only pretending to be offended when she wrote her long winded diatribes in this thread.

Indeed.

You could say most of my time on the IGS is spent playing a role – roleplaying if you will. One of the essentials to playing an effective character is ensuring one’s own emotional compartmentalization during roleplaying that character.

That you don’t roleplay at all and thus concern yourself with my emotional investiture is not my concern.

Well, that depends on the part she’s playing. Many classical plays actually—and intentionally—broke the fourth wall to have a character step out-of-scene to address the audience while on-stage. Sveinn Gamallmaður’s epic The Voyage at Dawn, for example, has Þórr Töframaður pause in the action, just as the axe-blow is coming toward his head, to deliver his own eulogy as a soliloquoy to the audience, and then pose them the immortal question: “Is what I was all I could ever be? Who stands for what might have been?”

Even today, it’s a powerful moment, achieved by great actors, breaking the fourth wall.